Do women suffer from asthma more than men?

Posted at 7:50 am on 05/11/2016 by Powlin Manuel Md, MBA, MS

Asthma in Women: Powlin V. Manuel MD, MS, MBA.

More women than men develop asthma symptoms as adults. One
reason behind this increase in incidence of adult-onset asthma in women is the
development of symptoms around the menstrual periods. The severity of symptoms
of asthma is also higher in women around the premenstrual periods (52%). This
is high compared to men experienced severe asthma in only in 30% of
self-reported incidence of adult-onset asthma (Rao, C.K. et al, 2013).
Asthma is a disease of the airway in which contraction of the tubes of the
respiratory system occurs in response to many factors. Apparently hormonal
changes can affect the sensitivity of airway to external factors. Allergic
reaction to inhalant allergens is one of the triggers. Other triggers to
include are: changes in temperature, humidity,
barometric pressure, immune response to infections and irritants, and as the
current report suggests, the response to hormonal changes.

More aggressive treatment of asthma may be needed if such a
correlation is experienced at the personal level.